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Charleston water is nothing like the water we work with in New York, and most of the advice written about water treatment is not written for water like this. Here is what is actually true in the Lowcountry.
You Probably Do Not Need a Water Softener
You Probably Do Not Need a Water Softener
Charleston Water System's annual reports typically put hardness below 3.5 grains per gallon, which is soft to slightly hard. At that level a softener is equipment you would buy, power, salt and maintain in order to solve a problem you do not have.
We install softeners. We would rather tell you when one is not worth the money.
What We Do Recommend Here
What We Do Recommend Here
A point-of-entry carbon filter. It addresses the two things we actually see in Lowcountry homes: sediment, and chlorine.
Chlorine is the seasonal one. Inlet water temperatures run near 80°F through the summer, which is when the taste and odor become noticeable enough that people call us about it. A carbon filter certified to NSF/ANSI 42 is designed to reduce chlorine taste and odor at every tap, including the shower, where most people notice it first.
Compliance and Ideal Are Two Different Bars
Compliance and Ideal Are Two Different Bars
Charleston Water System meets every federal drinking water standard. That is worth saying plainly, because a lot of water treatment marketing implies otherwise.
Independent health-based guidelines published by the Environmental Working Group are stricter than the federal limits, and by that measure a number of contaminants exceed them — mostly disinfection byproducts, along with PFOA and PFOS. Neither bar is wrong. They are answering different questions.
Home treatment is how you choose which bar your household lives at. That is a decision about preference and priorities, and it is yours to make with the numbers in front of you.
If You Want More Than Taste
If You Want More Than Taste
For drinking and cooking water specifically, a point-of-use reverse osmosis unit under the kitchen sink is the more thorough option. Units certified to NSF/ANSI 58 are designed to reduce a long list of contaminants — we will tell you exactly which ones the unit we quote is certified for, and show you the certification. More on PFAS and forever chemicals →
Rivers
Watersheds
Charleston Water System has some great resources that you may find helpful. Their Lead Information Page and CWS Lead Service Line Inventory map, are one of the best lead resources I have come across. In the early 1990s (2023 Report below), Charleston had extremely high lead levels in the water. See page 16/19 (page 28 & 29).
Talk to Us
Talk to Us
Palmer Plumbing LLC · North Charleston, SC · SC License #117286 Serving the Greater Charleston area
843-631-6255
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